Orca advocates have decided they can鈥檛 wait any longer for the federal government to protect endangered killer whales, so they are doing it themselves. It could give Ottawa a much-needed kick in the right direction.
Governments often move at a glacial speed, especially on issues that are not high on their current list of priorities. If it doesn鈥檛 involve pumping oil, promoting business, jailing criminals or fighting terrorists, the Harper Conservatives seem content to let things creep along.
That seems particularly true of anything that involves the environment.
The federal government has been working for years to create an action plan for orcas, the first protection strategy for an endangered marine species. When it鈥檚 finished, it will likely be the template for plans to protect other species.
But it is 12 years since the whales were declared endangered, and getting the plan to completion is taking too long for groups such as the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, the Dogwood Initiative, Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society and South 91原创 Island Anglers Association.
They are heartened by the four calves that have been born to the southern resident orcas since December, and they don鈥檛 want to let opportunities slip away. Two of those four calves could die because mortality rates are about 50 per cent.
To give the young whales and their relatives a chance, the advocates want action on the primary threats to the species: declining food sources, noise pollution and contaminants in their food and water. Add such things as whale-watching, oil spills and collisions with vessels, and the orcas need a lot of protection.
The primary threats are caused by humans, and it鈥檚 up to humans to do what we can to put things right. PCBs and PBDE fire retardants in their food have made the whales among the most contaminated marine mammals on earth.
The advocate groups gathered because the draft plan they have seen from the government doesn鈥檛 impress them. They decided to work on their own plan and start taking action.
The anglers鈥� group is working on a Sooke-area plan to increase salmon stocks, one way to address the shortage of chinook salmon that make up the bulk of the whales鈥� diet. The salmon population has dropped 50 per cent in the past 100 years.
Others are pushing to restore $200,000 in federal funding to the Straitwatch Program, which monitors vessel activity and has been cut back since the money was reduced.
The federal plan has been through regional consultations. Soon it will be posted online for 60 days of national input, then it will go for 30 days of revision before being presented to the minister for approval. There is light at the end of the bureaucratic tunnel.
Officials with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans say the draft plan is an 鈥渆volving document,鈥� and they hope to improve it with input from those who want to see the orcas protected.
Some of those people are concerned enough that they are setting up their own plans for protection. Duplicate or contradictory plans are not an efficient use of scarce resources. However, the independent plan is a way to reinforce the need for action.
Reducing the many threats against the whales will not be easy. The government will need everyone on side to help in the work.
